II. Humanitarian Organizations, Rohingya Identity, and National Verification Cards 64 When I started my work again after the attacks on August 25, [2017], the government didn’t allow us to carry out our duties as humanitarian workers without NVCs. I was not allowed three times to pass checkpoints in Buthidaung Township to carry out my duties . . . My country director said, “How can you stay with [our organization] without travel authorization?” I was advised that it is better to take the NVC to carry out my duties. [My employer] said, if not, they will not hire me again next year. I started considering my job security, and if I talk to you honestly, I had to take the NVC.229 A Rohingya aid worker with an international humanitarian organization operational in northern Rakhine State similarly described how his employer pressured him about the NVC: My supervisor asked me to take the NVC. He is a Rakhine Buddhist. He asked me more than ten times just since the end of 2018 and 2019. He asked me directly to take it. I am now on a month-to-month contract. If I take the NVC, then [they] will give me a year-long contract.230 Another Rohingya aid worker with an international humanitarian organization told Fortify Rights: When I worked for [the organization], my boss asked me to accept the NVC. It was a higherlevel Rakhine person. It happened many times in 2015 and once in 2016 . . . When my supervisor asked that I take the NVC, I felt sad. I had been working for [the organization] for many years. They did not ask in official ways for us to take the NVC, like through a statement, but in practice, they wanted us to take the NVC. It was like a secret policy.231 A member of senior management with a humanitarian organization operational in northern Rakhine State explained to Fortify Rights that Rohingya field staff are required to travel and that the government prevents Rohingya without NVCs from traveling. She said, “If it is a [Rohingya] field staff position, you can see the dilemma.”232 Rohingya aid workers said that international humanitarian organizations in northern Rakhine State considered whether applicants have NVCs in their recruitment processes. For example, one Rohingya aid worker with an international humanitarian organization told Fortify Rights: [The organization] told me that they can recruit me if I accept the NVC but, if not, then they cannot hire me . . . My human resource manager at [the organization] told me to get the NVC. It was a foreigner who told me to get an NVC . . . The exact words of the human resource person were, “If you keep the NVC, then we will keep you. Otherwise, we cannot keep you. The Myanmar government pressures us. If you would like to accept the NVC card, then we can keep you. If not, we cannot.”233 Following this conversation, the Rohingya aid worker obtained a NVC.234 A Rohingya former aid worker told Fortify Rights: “[The organization] would bring people to Yangon. My boss would say, ‘If you have an NVC, you can go to Yangon for training’. . . When you apply for jobs, [the organizations] ask you attach the NVC to your application. This is common practice, and if you don’t have an NVC document attached, you will not get called in for an interview.”235 Current senior staff from several humanitarian organizations operational in northern Rakhine State said that the incidents documented by Fortify Rights were not the result of explicit policies within their respective organizations..236 229 Fortify Rights interview with Z.B., northern Rakhine State, Myanmar, October 3, 2018. 230 Fortify Rights interview with E.K., northern Rakhine State, Myanmar, January 22, 2019. 231 Fortify Rights interview with F.F., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, June 17, 2019. 232 Fortify Rights electronic communication with senior management of a humanitarian organization operational in northern Rakhine State, August 2019. 233 Fortify Rights interview with Z.A., northern Rakhine State, Myanmar, October 2, 2018. 234 Ibid. 235 Fortify Rights interview with F.F., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, June 17, 2019. 236 Fortify Rights communications with senior management of humanitarian organizations operational in northern Rakhine State, August 2019.